Curragh Harzand WINS THE IRISH DERBY. The Prince Aga Khan’s English Derby winner confirms his talent by winning the Classic double, with a win at the Curragh for the prestigious Irish Derby. Ridden by Pat Smullen. Trainer Dermot Weld had celebrated earlier in the week his 4000 career wins. Can Harzand emulate previous winners of the Aga Khan by winning the famous Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe in October, in Paris, following on the wins by Zagreb and Grey Swallow owned by the Aga Khan.

Vingt.Property OverviewSize: 211 m2Property Type: ApartmentBedrooms: 3Bathrooms: 3Floor: 3rd (4th US)Area: 16thPrestigious location bordering the River SeineLocated on a prestigious boulevard bordering the Seine river in the 16th district, next to the Galliera museum and Palais de Tokyo this 3rd floor apartment (with elevator) provides splendid open views of the Eiffel Tower and more from its various rooms set across 212m2. It features 3 bedrooms, each with their own ensuite bathroom, separate guest WC, a large 58m2 living room with fireplace, a 25m2 dining room and an equipped separate kitchen (gas and induction plates, wine fridge, double-door fridge and freezer, oven, microwave, plentiful counter and storage space). The building is stone-faced and has a concierge for added convenience and security. Please contact us today for your private visit. Rental estimate 9000 € per month.* Every bedroom ensuite* High ceilings* Eiffel Tower views* Historical stone-faced building with conciergeFurther Details & PhotosApartment for Sale (Agency Fees Included)€3 490 000Courtesy Susie Vingt Paris with thanks.

A great day for Dermot Weld and his winner, HarzandTwo-time Melbourne Cup winning trainer Dermot Weld won the Epsom Derby for the first time on Saturday with Harzand, who had been a doubtful runner earlier in the day.Harzand, a fifth winner for owner The Aga Khan equalling his grandfather’s tally, held off a late challenge by favourite US Army Ranger.

Idaho who led into the final furlong came third to complete a 1-2-3 for Ireland in flat racing’s blue riband event run before an estimated 100,000 spectators including Queen Elizabeth II. courtesy of & with thanks Alastair Tweedale copyright Telegraph Sport.Racing. With thanks.

His Highness the Prince Aga Khan greets his Derby winning horse Harzand and jockey, Pat Smullen at Epsom this afternoon. The champion horse was bred by the Aga Khan Studs. Copyright Image courtesy Greg Wood with thanks. June 4th 2016.

Over 70 leaders from business, government, academia and civil society met at the World Economic Forum to steward an action-oriented agenda on the Middle East and North Africa’s most pressing challenges.
Oil-price shifts have created an unprecedented opportunity for reforms in oil-importing and oil-exporting countries.
The World Economic Forum’s communities have defined seven principles for public private co-operation.
Geneva, Switzerland, 1 June 2016 – A select group of over 70 leaders from business, government, academia and civil society met at World Economic Forum headquarters in Geneva to steward an action-oriented agenda on the Middle East and North Africa’s most pressing challenges. Held under the theme “Redesigning Public-Private Cooperation for the Middle East and North Africa”, the meeting focused on two imperatives for the region: peace and prosperity.

Given the instability and geopolitical disruptions posing unprecedented challenges to prosperity in the region, participants explored the fragile security and humanitarian context. They agreed on the need for collaborative diplomatic action to help resolve conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen, and for private-sector innovation in humanitarian aid delivery. “The World Economic Forum is committed to providing the international community a platform for greater public-private collaboration to respond to humanitarian and diplomatic imperatives,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

The current reform momentum created by low oil prices is seen as a key enabler for prosperity in the region. The reform needs are well recognized but, due to their complex nature, how to successfully implement them is not. In addition, the broad range of social issues in the Middle East and North Africa makes it challenging to find political consensus for undertaking successful reforms, especially for unpopular but needed ones.

Seven Principles for Public-Private Cooperation
In a pledge to make complex reforms work, representatives of the World Economic Forum’s communities, including leaders from government, business and civil society, defined the following seven principles for public-private cooperation to promote an effective and inclusive reform process:
Create a clear vision – Leadership’s vision and political commitment are the most important prerequisites for successful reforms and provide the framework for planning and implementation
Establish an environment for trust – The decision-making process needs to be transparent and provide confidence that the reforms will genuinely benefit social and economic progress
Foster inclusive collaboration – Reform implementation needs to be a collaborative process among government, policy-makers, the private sector and civil society with the objective of generating balanced benefits for all citizens
Consult public beforehand and maintain momentum through regular communication – Along with effective communication, it is important to consult the public before planning reforms, continuously communicate during the process, and inform the public about the results achieved
Enable an ecosystem for accountability – Social and economic progress requires the government to establish an ecosystem that encourages and validates citizen demand for accountability
Attract and promote talent – Considering the national interest and complexity of reforms needed, their design and implementation call for consulting the best experts available
Build foundations for stability – Greater public-private collaboration is imperative to address the humanitarian crisis and build regional cohesion because peace is fundamental to prosperity
“The principles defined by our core communities take the agenda for public-private cooperation to a new level, consistent with the needs of the region today,” said Miroslav Dusek, Head of Middle East and North Africa and Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum.
The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.
The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
World Economic Forum, 91-93 route de la Capite, CH-1223 Cologny/Geneva, www.weforum.org
Extract of Forum Press Release. Courtesy & with thanks.

Declining productivity growth and rising inequality are two of the biggest obstacles to improved economic performance, according to a new OECD report.

The Productivity-Inclusiveness Nexus explores the root causes behind each of these challenges, examining the extent to which they are connected, and at how to take a coherent policy response. In particular, it signals the need to expand the productive assets in an economy by investing in the skills of people and in an environment where all firms and regions have a chance to succeed.

The report discusses possible complementary explanations for the slowdown in productivity growth, which has affected some 90% of OECD countries since the turn of the millennium and has now spread to emerging market economies. It says the failure to translate rapid technological change into productivity growth reflects a mix of cyclical and structural factors.
One cyclical factor has been the persistently low investment in physical capital, in a context of weak global demand. On the structural side, there has been growing dispersion in productivity performance between leading, or ‘frontier” firms, and other companies that are lagging behind.

The report finds several, possibly complementary, explanations for the dispersion in productivity growth, such as the breakdown of technology diffusion and the possibility of growing capture of rents by the frontier firms. A related issue is the a lack of competition in certain markets, which may have on the one hand, allowed poorly-performing firms to linger, trapping valuable human and capital resources in unproductive activities, entrenching inequalities of income, while on the other increasing leading firms market power and raising barriers to entry.
Indeed, the Nexus report also shows that inequalities of income, wealth, well-being and opportunities have increased in a majority of countries. It highlights how different aspects of inequality tend to feed off of each other, hindering efforts to improve individual well-being and undercutting our economies’ productive potential. It notes in particular how low income groups and regions that have fallen behind tend to accumulate economic and social disadvantages.

Higher inequality results in fewer people in the bottom 40% of the population investing in skills, thereby worsening inequality and reducing productivity growth. The report says increasing productivity dispersion across firms appears to have contributed to a widening of the wage distribution over the past two or three decades.

The report highlights how the growth of the digital economy raises new challenges for jobs and skills. It adds that the growing weight of finance in the global economy may have diverted investment away from productive activities, while resulting in a higher concentration of wealth at the top of the income distribution.

‘’Tackling the ‘nexus’ of productivity and inequality challenges will require a new, coherent and multidimensional policy approach in order to ensure that all individuals, firms and regions can realise their productive potential and share in the benefits of improved productivity growth. In practice, this will call for measures that aim to help people, businesses and regions lagging behind,’’ said Gabriela Ramos, Special Counsellor to the OECD Secretary-General, Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20, who is heading the work behind the report in the context of the All on Board for Inclusive Growth Initiative.

Rotterdam. The newly opened Gotthard Base Tunnel through the Swiss Alps links the rail network from Rotterdam to Italian port of Genoa. Amazing engineering feat.

The world’s longest and deepest rail tunnel has officially opened in Switzerland, after almost two decades of construction work.
The 57km (35-mile) twin-bore Gotthard base tunnel will provide a high-speed rail link under the Swiss Alps between northern and southern Europe.
Switzerland says it will revolutionise European freight transport.
Goods currently carried on the route by a million lorries a year will go by train instead.
The tunnel has overtaken Japan’s 53.9km Seikan rail tunnel as the longest in the world and pushed the 50.5km Channel Tunnel linking the UK and France into third place. Info courtesy and with thank to the BBC.

OECD Forum 1st June 2016. During discussions from the distinguished guests addressing the Delegates, the general view was that Britain leaving the European Union would have a negative effect on growth, for Britain as well as her trading partners. The Secretary General Angel Gurria presented an OECD analysis on the economic effects of BREXIT at the London School of Economics April 27th 2016. Monsieur Gurria’s sentiment indicated that he would be pleased if Britain remained in the European Union. Mr Gurria has an MA in economics from Leeds University, & holds a BA in economics from UNAM (Mexico).

OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria, at the start of his 3rd term, surrounded by some of Latin America’s most eminent personalities, including Presidents, Ministers, at the formal launch of the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Programme, prior to the yearly OECD Ministerial Meetings. OECD 2016 Forum second day devoted the talks to the economic profiles of countries in the Latin American region. Investment in Education, Education & Education. Growth. Sustainability.Governance. And increasing co-operation between the different countries of the Region. Such an impressive range of personalities gave added resonance to their assessments & comments to identify solutions for shared Challenges. OECD participant Insider’s joke, Nexus Nutella et al….